Gateway - The Strange Tale of Dr Aaron Strange
by ghodges137
Summary: A modern-day reboot of the Adam Strange story (of DC Comics) and loosely based on H. G. Wells' "The First Men in the Moon"
1. Chapter 1 - A Strange Tale

Disclaimers: First, I don't own the rights to DC Comics or any of its intellectual property, including the Adam Strange franchise. I also don't own any rights to the stories by H. G. Wells or Disney (I make a reference of two to some of their intellectual property as well). Finally, I am not a real writer – I am just venting ideas that have entertained me in those quiet moments people believe I am thinking about something productive. You have been warned.

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Gateway: The Strange Tale of Dr. Aaron Strange

Rating: T (violence, coarse language, suggestive adult themes)

Synopsis: A modern-day reboot of the Adam Strange story (of DC Comics) and loosely based on H. G. Wells' "The First Men in the Moon"

Genre: Sci-Fi, Romance

by: G. Hodges (Jan 2016)

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 _It's been almost twenty years since I last spoke to my old friend. He's always been an eccentric but earnest guy, but when he popped out of the blue and insisted we meet right away at the old diner I could only figure he was in trouble. He was, but in no way could I have ever imagined the kind of problems he had endured._

 _His was a story only a madman could believe._

 _In hindsight, I'm glad I went to see him. I suspect he really needed an old friend to listen to him. No one else could swallow the tall tales of his Gateway, or even have the patience to decipher him when his ramblings tracked away from the speech of normal people. Yes, he was brilliant – but the kind of brilliance that comes with a touch of eccentricity._

 _Dear reader, please understand that I am giving my best account of a three-hour lunch and conversation with a guy in a simple dive of an eatery in our old college town. I'm not a scientist, and I assure you that I am not a person who is prone to fantasy. I've scrubbed all identifying information (for both our sakes) and I'm taking some limited creative license to the less clear parts of his story. Perhaps this is how I handle such a revelation – as a professional writer, I have found solace in the written word, and it is writing that grounds me to reality when faced with the surreal topic I was made privy to just recently._

 _Let me begin: it was in the early Summer of 2015, and my friend (let's call him Dr. Aaron Strange) found me on Facebook after we lost touch back in college almost twenty years ago. He wanted to catch up on old times, and really insisted we find an opportunity to meet up at the same diner we used to hang out at in between classes for lunch. I was an English major, and Aaron majored in Physics, but a chance meeting in a general ed class got us to be fast friends._

 _There was no Facebook back then (there was hardly even an internet) so after college we lost touch with each other. I went on to start trying to publish books while Aaron went to grad school. Now, here he is – older, grayer, growing a beard, and looking disheveled and broken._

 _We dispensed with the obligatory pleasantries right away. After about ten minutes or so of light chat to catch up on old times, he lets me in on the reason for his sudden reappearance into my life._

" _I'm sorry I am only now taking the effort to make contact with you again," he sheepishly starts. "But, after all that I have experienced in the last few months, I just couldn't keep it all quiet. My life and career are over – my wife has left me, and my son is... Goodness knows where now. I don't think I'm going to survive much longer, and I just didn't want my story to die with me. I've seen things that no one could imagine could be real. I've opened Pandora's Box, and I fear there may be evils that may one day follow my trail and wreak havoc upon the Earth. There is so much more going on in the space between my hands than anyone has ever dreamed possible. And I've seen it!" He holds his hands out in front of him like he's telling a "I caught a fish *this* big" story to emphasize his point._

 _At the time, I was totally ignorant to his point, so I challenged him on this. How could someone who was a budding scientist at a prestigious university only two years ago have such a cataclysmic fall if he was honest and at least passed as intelligent? His answer – he got a little too curious about a modern mystery, and concocted a very unorthodox experiment to prove his theory._

 _As with all wild stories, it starts humbly and in the middle of desolation and nowhere: "It all began when I was on a research vessel off the coast of Guam. I was a research assistant looking into trying to get a better measurement of the Gravitational Constant, and we were making measurements of the pull of gravity at the bottom of Challenger Deep. What we found seemed odd, but not unique – we found the constant to be a tad higher than most other laboratories, furthering the debate rather than trying to end it. The Primary Investigator was interested in trying to better understand Dark Matter and wanted his own high-precision measurements to work with, and the U.S. Military keeps some of those measurements secret for fear of people trying to use it to locate underground bunkers and such. Anyways, as I poured over the data, I got a crazy idea and drafted the raw beginnings of my own set of experiments that led to my family's utter calamity..."_

It is just before dawn, and Dr. Aaron Strange is feverishly working in his basement. After nearly a year of research, planning, building, testing, and squirreling away high-tech laboratory equipment, the core component of his masterpiece was finally taking its final form in front of him. It was a wide, flat ring with a hole about 1.5 meters diameter. The unit was up against the wall, suspended from the floor by about half a meter by supports and technical equipment. The laboratory was filled with a cacophony of sounds from the pumps, slow gas releases, cooling fans, and other noises one might think of in a science lab.

His genius is only interrupted by the presence of a woman who has grown impatient by his lack of interest in anything outside his lab. His wife.

"Aaron! Are you listening!? I've been calling you for over ten minutes – breakfast is ready! Stop what you're doing and get up here right now!"

Finally, after overcoming an inertia that drives people like him to take on the kinds of grand projects they do, he stops his work and reluctantly accepts his wife's command to take sustenance. Dr. Strange takes the seemingly long walk to the breakfast table where his wife and teenage son are waiting on him – well, at least his wife.

His son, Adam, is already digging into his home cooked breakfast. He smiles as he takes a breath of air to greet his dad. His father returns the greeting, and calmly sits into his chair as his displeased wife looks hard into his face. Once again, she starts to complain about his lack of interest in what is going on in the family. Once again, he is forgetting all of his promises to be a good husband and father, especially after quitting his job and having to move all of the family – at his own insistence – to work for a tech company located near Mount Mauna Kea on the island of Hawai'i. He had really infuriated his wife when he purchased a dump of a house just because he loved the basement and its location on the island.

And to top of it all, he doesn't even know how to swim, much less have any interest in surfing – the only cottage industry on the island that can justify the sky-high property values and cost of importing everything but sugar cane and pineapples.

Dr. Strange still defends himself, arguing that the life of a dirt-poor postdoctoral fellow at his old employment was going nowhere – this was a new start, and it seems he's the only one enamored by the new job. His hours are still excessive, he's still paid a slave's wage, and he's still absent around the house because of "research" – but at least he's happier, and they don't have to travel far to have a dream vacation.

Once breakfast is over, Adam grabs his skateboard to go to hula practice and meet up with friends later. Dr. Strange goes back downstairs, and Mrs. Strange goes outside to chat with the wife and mother of a Japanese family living next door. Dr. Strange finishes his last connections, performs a few systems checks and tests, and finally taking a deep breath, starts to activate the device. He stares with heart-stopping anticipation at the ring against the wall, looking for a sign that the device is working as it starts to hum to life.


	2. Chapter 2 - First Contact

" _OK, can you explain to me_ _again_ _what this machine of yours is supposed to do?" I was starting to lose focus. Dr. Strange wasn't the best of storytellers, and I simply couldn't understand the significance of the suspense he was tr_ _ying_ _to build._

 _Dr. Strange mulls over my question, and slowly replies. "Let me back up a bit. First, I didn't build the device myself. I contracted out the machining and construction of most of the major parts, and foraged or bargained for most of everything else. Yes, I did do some work myself, including the coding of the computer controls as well as some soldering and such. But mainly, my goal was to do the final assembly._

" _My hypothesis was this: first, Dark Matter could be explained by Super Symmetry – there are a second set of particles mirroring our own: quarks, leptons, and bosons. But, these particles are completely invisible to us. They exist all around, passing through us and we through them, kind of like in a parallel dimension from the old science fiction movies. Their only connection to us is through gravity and the Higgs field. Hence, we can only see the gravity they create – i.e. they appear as Dark Matter. This Dark Matter exists all around us, and I suspect that the Earth is full of it. It is like a collection of sediment at the bottom of a well of gravity; like a planet existing parallel to our own – with perhaps people, not unlike ourselves, sitting in a diner *right here* and wondering if there is a parallel world where people are dining just as we are doing?_

" _Where I, and some of my friends working at CERN, come in with our own original ideas is that there is a way to convert these Dark Matter particles into conventional particles and vice-versa. It's a complicated, two-step process, but we calculated that in principle it could be done. That is what this device was designed to do. It is, in essence, a gateway into a parallel world._

" _I first built a scaled down proof-of-concept model, but it didn't work as intended. What I found was that it generated a feedback that suggested that there are 'cracks' that may allow me to push though and experience this parallel world. I triangulated those signals and found it to be just underground on the island of Hawai'i. I just *had* to find that weak point, before it disappeared, and I did. It cost me almost everything, including my family, but I pulled it off._

 _When I finally powered up the machine, nothing happened at first. But, once the feedback had returned one night, that was when the last 18 months of my life was finally vindicated..._

Dr. Strange was frantic as he finished the start-up sequence on his Gateway. As the servos powering moving parts within the ring got up to speed and stabilized, he started to see a dimming of the wall through the ring. He adjusted dials and typed in commands into the nearby console, and with a sudden "thump" the area within the ring went dark.

As his eyes adjusted, he soon realized he was starting into a darkened room. It was a laboratory, not unlike his own. He soon realized that there was a single individual watching what looked like a dial and was captivated by it. The individual looked humanoid in shape, wearing what looked like a flowing white robe, but bald. The skin of this lone attendant was very light, and Dr. Strange could distinctly see a hand with five fingers touching the dial.

The attendant suddenly sits up straight, and slowly turns its head towards Dr. Strange. As the attendant's face comes into view, Dr. Strange discovered the attendant had a generally human-looking face – but in place of normal human eyes the attendant had slightly larger orbs and sockets, and his green irises suddenly contracted from the bright lights of Dr. Strange's lab into narrow slits like a cat.

A small eternity had passed where these two individuals simply stared at each other, incredulous at the reality they suddenly shared. The attendant got up and slowly approached the window they now shared and slowly reached a hand up, as if to touch the interface between them. The attendant was squinting and starting to shield its eyes with its other hand, mumbling something that could not be heard by Dr. Strange from the din in his own lab. Dr. Strange tried to reply, unsure how loud he should be as he gave a fumbled, unsure greeting and raised his own hand in kind.

As the two slowly approached the boundary that separated them, the attendant suddenly noticed that the sleeve of his clothing was starting to flap, as though a breeze was blowing into its face. The attendant made some kind of verbal gesture then started intently at Dr. Strange with a realization of sudden danger. It started to quickly ramble unintelligible words in a language that sounded like Scottish Gaelic and making a strange gesture with its hands. The attendant backs away and quickly runs back to its control station and pushed some buttons, yelling out words that sounded like the ones it had just said a moment before.

As Dr. Strange starts calling out to the attendant to stop, the Gateway closes. As though wakening from a dream, Dr. Strange suddenly finds himself yelling at a blank wall. Dr. Strange slowly eases himself into his chair, soaking in the realization that he was actually successful far beyond expectation.

As shock gave way to excitement in Dr. Strange, his son Adam opens the basement door and walks halfway down and leans over to look at his jubilant dad from the top of the basement steps.

"You OK, Dad?" Adam's gaming headgear is slid up from his ears and he's looking at his father with genuine curiosity. "You OK?"

Dr. Strange smiles, tears in his eyes, and nods confidently. "Yes – the best I've felt in a lifetime!"


	3. Chapter 3 - First Visit on Rann

_Aaron_ _'s monologue was interrupted by the arrival of our food._ _His order was a high-caloric burger and fries, while I settled for a soup and salad. His eating habits never changed – it was a wonder he wasn't corpulent._

" _So, it worked?" I was now intrigued at his story. The discovery of a lifetime – a parallel dimension populated by cat-people. I could believe Aaron could pull this off, but it was still a tall tale to me. Until he produces proof, I have to remain skeptical._

" _Yes," he replied, suddenly stuffing his face with food. "At the time, I thought that was going to be the extent of it. A parallel world, but I only got a sliver of a glance. It was a number of days before the feedback signal returned, and I soon started to understand why Dr. Sardath had to close his end of the Gateway."_

 _I stopped him. "Dr. Sardath? You got to learn... his... name?"_

" _Yes," Dr. Strange smugly replies. "Like I said, I came to understand why Dr. Sardath closed his end of the Gateway. Like I said, it was a two-step process, and he had *independently* figured out his end of the process. Once I could detect the feedback signal, I could reopen the Gateway on my end._

" _Once I did, I found his whole lab was cleaned and sanitized. He was wearing what I guess was his world's version of a HazMat suit. He realized that there was the chance of contamination from the bacteria and viruses on my end, completely foreign to his species and immune system. That wind from the pressure differential of our worlds could have spelled doom for all life on his world. He was wise to take precautions, but it was a real scare those couple of days that he had to decontaminate his lab and pray he wasn't going to die from breathing our air, or me from his."_

 _I interrupted his train of thought again. "How did you ever establish communication?"_

 _He nods, swallowing the bolus of food that filled his large mouth with a swig of soda. "Yes – we first had to establish a few commonly understood gestures. Then, we began to exchange things – books, audio devices, videos – things that best explained our languages and basic knowledge to each other. Of course, we observed the highest level of cleanliness on each of our ends. I got some teaching tools that I suspect would be given to an infant on his world. I was never gifted with the skill of language, but I rose to the challenge and I acquired a level of mastery I'd rate to that of a sixth grader by equivalency in about six weeks."_

" _How can you be sure that you were successful with the cleaning process? Could you have brought a disease over?" I was starting to contemplate the napkin Aaron just handed me._

 _Aaron just laughed. "If we had made a mistake, the world would already have been overrun by a foreign virus months ago. Don't forget – Dr. Sardath and I are scientists of the highest caliber. We took nothing for chance, and our attention to detail was flawless. Don't you worry." Aaron stared at my eyes, then to the napkin he just handed me, and then back to my eyes as if to tell me that I was silly to worry. I said nothing and motion him to continue._

" _So, back to the story. It turned out that Dr. Sardath was, like me, a rogue scientist. He had a similar situation, leaving his position at a center of higher learning to take on a quest to discover what the scientists in his world were observing as a kind of Dark Matter for them. The matter of *our* universe. His situation was a bit more precarious, though, since he was a more high-profile scientist who had to leave over what many in his world thought was a controversial topic. The people of their world – Rann – were more superstitious. In their early history, there were legends of giant beings – Thanagarians – who hunted down their species in an ancient blood feud, and it is believed that a Jesus-figure in their religion had sealed them back into their home realm of Thanagar and saved the entire world. Part of their major religion is the belief that alternate dimensions could lead to some hell that would release monsters that would destroy their world. So, Dr. Sardath was basically a heretic for publicly supporting the research, much less conducting it in secret._

" _After we finally learned enough of each others languages that we could carry on a basic conversation, we decided it was time to let our families in on the discovery. That was... interesting..."_

Mrs. Strange breaks the initial silence with a gasp and a quick scream.

She quickly catches herself and stares in disbelief at everyone. Before her, through a magic portal on the wall, a family of three people with anime-sized cat eyes are politely staring back at her. The tallest was a bald male, followed by a smiling and lovely-dressed female. To their side stands a young female with dyed blue hair braided into something like dreadlocks in the popular fashion of her world. She cups her hands and gestures in the formal greeting of the people of Rann.

"Don't scare them, dear," Dr. Strange calmly chides his wife. Mrs. Strange is conflicted with an instinct to clobber her husband for his latest surprise upon the family, and a trained response to welcome her exotic new neighbors. She chooses the latter, saving the former for a later time.

"Everyone, this is Dr. Sargath, his wife, and his daughter Alanna. They are welcoming us into their home." Dr. Aaron Strange motions for his wife and son to approach the humming ring by the wall. Adam slowly approaches, curious, while Adam's mother is suddenly awash in horror at the prospect of entering the strange hole her husband just made into her basement wall.

"Oh, don't worry. The process is painless and quite safe. We've already tested it once or twice already." Dr. Strange's wife shoots an incredulous look at him, then watches as he steps into the ring and into the darkened room beyond like he was stepping through a bulkhead into a submarine.

After some coaxing, the three humans soon find themselves in a makeshift parlor covered in white sheets and sanitized surfaces, the ceiling just clearing above their heads by a few centimeters, and the smell of disinfectants light in the fresh crisp air. Mrs. Strange is suddenly reminded of her time in the hospital, giving birth to her son as her husband was stuck in traffic. She still grumbles at that memory, wishing he had left the research lab when she first started to have contractions and had begged him to meet her at the hospital, instead of insisting he complete one or two things first. She pushes the memory from her mind, in an effort to focus on being a gracious and receptive guest in this alien home.

The three humans are sitting on a couch, oddly small, and are looking at an opposing couch with the three Rannian aliens sitting in it and staring back at them. The husband, Dr. Sargath, speaks a broken and slurred English to Mrs. Strange. "My wife asks if you are – approve the room. She is very happy to you accept – welcome in."

Mrs. Strange takes a moment to correct the poor grammar in her head, then nods. "Yes. Please tell your wife I am very happy to be here. She has a... lovely home, and a lovely dress too." Mrs. Strange motions to Mrs. Sargath's ornate robe. After a moment of translation, Mrs. Sargath is noticeably pleased. Mrs. Strange soon smiles as well, slowly making herself comfortable in her new surroundings.

"Dad?" Adam asks. "Why does everything seem smaller here then when we viewed it from your lab? And, why do I feel like I'm falling?"

"That's because the physics here is different," Dr. Strange replies. "The difference in perspective is because Dr. Sargath's annulus is smaller in diameter than ours, making an optical illusion that appears to magnify everything from our perspective, and minify everything in our lab from their perspective. The gravity – that I cannot explain. It's less than the gravity of Mars here for some reason, so be on your guard not to jump too suddenly."

Mrs. Strange notices the cups and dishes on the small coffee table between the two couches. They are empty. She motions to them, curious. "Um, are we going to be served some tea or something?" she asks.

Dr. Strange answers her question. "It's their tradition, yes, but we are forgoing that for now. We are not sure yet if their food and water are safe for us, and we have yet to be fully immunized to their world. This is basically a germ-free bubble we are sitting in. We are supposed to bring a sweet or confection, but we are skipping that as well in the interest of safety. You understand."

Dr. Sargath nods, understanding the conversation, and interjects. "No offense to give. You – very honor guests. We put as – gesture."

After a few more polite exchanges, Dr. Strange and Dr. Sargath begin to host a conversation between the two families. Minutes blur into an hour, then two. After a time, there is a motion for the three human guests to go back to their home on Earth. Adam has hula practice in the morning, and Alanna has school to attend. Dr. Strange and Dr. Sargath congratulate each other for a successful first visit, and bid each other a good evening.


	4. Chapter 4 - We Are All Human

_We've just finished our lunches, and I order some coffee. "So, that seemed like a nice first contact with an alien race."_

 _Aaron smiles as he dashes in a punchline to the anecdote. "Well, up until we traveled back into the lab at least. My wife was wearing her favorite dress, but because of concerns for contamination I had to confiscate it and send her to the shower stall I had installed in my lab. She really didn't like having to see me ruin her dress in an effort to clean it. I had to go out and buy her a new one. I should have explained the situation better, but she never did have a head for science."_

 _Aaron interrupts his own train of thought. "Speaking of science, I have to admit that I was not prepared for everything I found. The physics of Rann was different – gravity was about half that of Earth. But somehow their moon tracked exactly with our moon. I am still trying to reconcile their odd planetary physics with our Keppler's Laws of Motion." He looked at me, and backed off from his interest in the nitty-gritty of inter-dimensional science._

" _We had further visits. Over time, each of us started to learn how to speak Dr. Sargath's language. We also arranged for vaccinations, but that was only after we made a striking discovery that changed the dynamics between our families..."_

It is a muggy evening in August when the two families met again for their weekly visit. Mrs. Strange wears a simple dress that is easy to clean, and Adam is bringing over some CDs of a human animated TV show Alanna has been hooked on watching. There is an Earth-made DVD player and screen in Dr. Sargath's former lab brought over during a previous visit that has been rigged to accept power from the Rannian power grid.

The adults sit on the couches, chatting freely between each other. The two kids are sitting on the floor by the DVD player, and Adam is explaining an old Earth custom called Palm Reading to Alanna. Dr. Sargath produces a small vial of human blood and returns it to Dr. Strange.

"Aaron," Dr. Sargath begins, his English much better than a few weeks ago. "I got a chance to get a sample of your blood to my friend at the University. I told him I found it near my house on some sharp rocks. He tested it, and you will be – surprised – at what he found."

Dr. Strange nods, then starts to speak slowly in Dr. Sargath's native tongue. "So, my friend, please tell me what you were told."

Dr. Sargath leans in towards Dr. Strange, as though the walls themselves might give away a secret. "They identified the blood as Rannian. Male, of unknown ethnicity. He also noted that the blood was very thick with – red cells – like the person was an athlete or lived at the top of a mountain."

Mrs. Strange speaks up, but in English. "Are you sure they identified the blood as Rannian? Are you saying we have the same DNA? I thought we were a totally different and alien species. You said that yourself, right Aaron?" Mrs. Strange looks to her husband for confirmation.

Dr. Strange nods in agreement, replying in Rannian to make sure Dr. Sargath understood the question. "Yes. Our species should have evolved completely separately from each other. Even if you have genes to decide what traits you have, it is highly improbable that the patterns would match enough to say we are the same species by chance. That is just too hard to believe it was a coincidence."

Dr. Sargath switches back to his native tongue. "I agree. But I can prove it." He produces a textbook on Rannian anatomy and physiology, and opens it to a marked page. Although the text is hard for the humans to read, the pictures clearly show the double-helix of DNA and sketches of male and female Rannians with human-looking breasts and sex organs.

Dr. Sargath continues in English so that his point is clear. "So, we are the same species. We are – compatible."

Mrs. Strange looks at the book, then to her husband. "Compatible? Does that mean...?"

As if on cue, the four parents go quiet and slowly turn their heads towards the side of the room where Adam and Alanna are sitting. Adam is holding Alanna's outstretched hand and drawing his finger along creases in her skin as he explains their meaning, and Alanna is holding her other hand to her face and giggling as if she is being tickled. The parents all realize that they are watching a boy and a girl, together, and their friendliness is bordering on romantic flirtation.

All four of the parents suddenly call out to Adam and Alanna to come sit in their respective seats on the couches. Slightly surprised that they were being watched, they quietly comply and everyone changes the conversation.


	5. Chapter 5 - Brothers of Rann

_I couldn't help but giggle a bit as Aaron described the surprise he had when he realized that Humans and Rannians could mate and have children._ _It was also the first time I saw Aaron as a parent, and not the awkward college guy I knew all those years ago._

" _What would the eyes of an interbred child look like?" I asked. "From what you described, I thought they were part cat or maybe part snake or something. How can they be human?"_

 _Aaron sighs and looks into his empty glass. The waiter comes by and offers dessert, and Aaron requests something along with a refill of soda. Returning to the question, he takes a deep breath and starts to explain._

" _I'm not sure. Perhaps, as my son Adam speculated, they may have once visited Earth a long time ago. He told me he and Alanna swapped legends and stories from their respective histories and they speculated that the Rannians may have been misunderstood as a race of beings from old human legends. Perhaps we called them elves or faeries – who knows? Personally, I think it's rubbish – but I find it harder to believe that we developed into an identical species independently without some kind of common driving factors or a natural bridge between our worlds. Or, maybe it is a miracle of God."_

" _I thought you didn't believe in God." I was surprised to hear Aaron say this so casually. He really did change._

" _I'm not sure of anything much anymore," he calmly replies. "But, Dr. Sargath and his family didn't believe in a God, especially the one that most Rannians worshiped. That did lead to some tensions with members of his family and community. My son Adam told me of an incident where he got to learn first-hand about how difficult it is to be an atheist on Rann..._

There is much celebration in Dr. Sargath's old lab this evening. Everyone seems to have taken well to their vaccinations, and they confirmed that neither Earthlings nor Rannians would be poisoned by each others edible foods. There was a dinner party to share in each other's favorite native dishes. It is Labor Day on Earth's Gregorian Calendar, and per the tradition they had a cookout and were enjoying the various cuisines. On Rann, where Dr. Sargath lives, it is also the beginning of Fall, and they have a similar celebration but more along the Fall Equinox later on in the year.

The lab has been cleaned up, no longer the clean room it had been those past few months. Both families were able to freely pass through the portal without fear of contaminating each other, but precautions were still made to prevent the spread of disease onto Earth or Rann, so it was the Earthlings who still had to visit Rann. Adam enjoyed this, because he liked to show off how strong he was when in Rann's reduced gravity.

Then, a knock came to Dr. Sargath's door. Everyone went quiet – Dr. Sargath's discovery was still a secret to others on Rann, and there had to be the proper time and place to announce his discovery. But now was not that time. Quickly, everyone gathered the party items and started to shuffle everything through the Gateway while Dr. and Mrs. Sargath went downstairs to greet their unexpected guests. Adam and Alanna stayed behind to finish clearing the lab and removing the last traces of hotdogs and ketchup.

Dr. and Mrs. Strange were already on the other side of the Gateway when Adam was finishing up with cleaning the crumbs off of the floor. As Adam was throwing crumbs into Dr. Strange's trash can, he could hear an unfamiliar voice just outside the door. Dr. Sargath's voice could clearly be heard, discouraging his guest from entering his lab, but the other voice seems adamant to enter and see the lab. Alanna thinks quickly and powers down the Gateway, and grabs Adam by the collar and dives behind the couch just as the door opens to the lab.

Adam can hear a heavy-set Rannian walk in, sigh, and flop down onto the couch he is hiding behind. In a strong, punctuated accent, the Rannian speaks. "Close the door. We need to talk, Sargath. Privately."

Dr. Sargath closes the door to the lab, and the other Rannian continues. "Sargath, I'm worried about you. You are my brother-in-law, and I'd like to think that it means something to you when I offer you some advice." The Rannian adjusts on the couch, oblivious to the idea that Adam and Alanna are right behind him.

"This – experiment you've been working on..." The Rannian pauses, as if to gesture about the room. "This is starting to draw attention again. You need to start coming to church – you need to get back to the kind of things that made you the envy of the academic world. There are stars out there that need to be discovered, and here you are – playing the mad scientist with a lab full of dangerous machines. What are you trying to prove?"

Dr. Sargath speaks up from the other couch. "I'm not concerned about my image anymore. I'm also not afraid to learn the truth about this universe. There are so many things–"

"Stop it, Sargath!" The other Rannian rudely interrupts, raising his voice in an obvious sense of impatience. "You may not be concerned, but your actions can affect others. *I* am a Brother of the Good Book and an elected official for this community, and I have a reelection campaign I have to start preparing soon. I can't have you playing God in your basement while I'm trying to convince everyone that I can continue to protect the public from fear and the unknown. What if you actually are successful with this contraption of yours? There would be a panic in the streets – people still shiver with fear when we read the stories of the Rann-Thanagar War in the Good Book. Can you imagine one of those Thanagarians sitting right beside me? Dread the thought!"

Adam and Alanna look at each other, at once worried and yet also trying not to chuckle at the irony of his statement.

Dr. Sargath tries to ease the concerns of his brother-in-law, trying to swallow the fact that he has been more than just successful. He decides to lie. "Brother, please don't worry yourself. I have been working on this device for years, and I've gotten nowhere. I am beginning to lose hope, but we shall see in time."

"And what about your daughter, Alanna? People gossip about her – she needs to be in church. She wastes her life on these liberal ideas. It makes here awkward and unbecoming of a woman. She needs to be getting ready to accept a husband, not filling her head with make-believe. Are you sure you don't want her to meet my friend's son? He's a good guy, and he has already expressed an interest in her, despite her... detractions."

Adam and Alanna look at each other again, revealing their disapproval in the ugly looks they exchange between them. But they remain perfectly quiet.

"Brother," Dr. Sargath begins. "I've already told you – I have my own beliefs, and once Alanna is of age she can choose her own beliefs. If that is her wish, she can do so. But, so long as we are legally free to choose our faith, or none at all, then this is what we choose."

The other Rannian gives out another sigh. "Yes, Sargath, it is your choice. But if something were to happen, do not think you will be shown much mercy in the court of public opinion. I'll always be on your side, but don't plan on any miracles coming from me should you find yourself in trouble one day. But at least think about Alanna's future – you're not going to live forever, and she needs to think about more than just a career. She's a girl, and the Good Book says–"

"I am well aware of what the Good Book says, Brother."

The other Rannian slowly lurches his large mass off of the couch. Quietly, he answers. "So you say."

Dr. Sargath and his brother-in-law soon leave the lab, and for the first time Adam and Alanna are completely alone. They stare at each other, digesting the contents of the conversation they just overheard.


	6. Chapter 6 - Halloween in Hawai'i

_Aaron is making a lot of noise as he finishes off his soda. "Oh yes," Aaron finally says. "Dr. Sargath had a lot more at stake than I did. That was why I was so impressed at his demeanor when he still welcomed us every week."_

 _I requested a second refill of coffee, this time decaf. "By the way," I started. "You never explained anything about their world. What was Rann like? What kind of technology did they have? Do they have different countries, like us? Who are the Brothers of the Good Book? Did you ever get to explore their world?"_

" _In due time," Aaron replied. "We did eventually venture out farther than just Dr. Sargath's lab, or at least Adam did later on. Once we were able to work out a plan to minimize the chances of infecting the world at large, we decided to allow the kids a chance to explore first. Alanna wanted to see Earth, so we decided to have her come through the Gateway and look around on the one night a year that no one would raise an eyebrow at an oddly small girl with large cat eyes. Halloween..."_

Alanna is excited and frightened as she stares into the bright hole of the Gateway. Her irises are like vertical slits as she struggles to look forward. Her parents are hovering behind her, giving her last-minute advice to be cautious and not draw attention to herself. They then call out to the Strange family to take care of their precious only daughter. Dr. and Mrs. Strange reassure them that everything has been prepared and that it should be fine.

With a final farewell, Alanna takes a bold step into the annulus in her father's lab, and clumsily collapses into the lab of Dr. Strange. Everyone calls for her, and she slowly arises embarrassed at the botched first step of a Rannian onto Earth soil. She is amazed at the strength of the gravity and how thick the air is on Earth.

"You need to take it slow, my dear," Mrs. Strange says to her alien guest.

"Yes," Dr. Strange agrees. "Our air has a lot of nitrogen in it, and it is thicker, so you may need to work harder to breathe here. The gravity is about twice as intense as you're used to, so you will exhaust easy. No strenuous activity, or else you may faint. Otherwise, it's just like Rann."

Alanna spends the next hour being escorted by Alan and Mrs. Strange as she acclimates to the new environment. She squints as she navigates the home where they live. Almost all of the lights are off to help protect her sensitive vision, since anything stronger than a 30-watt bulb is too intense for her to look at directly. She is especially excited to see Adam's room and all of the family photos around the house.

Finally, she is escorted to the guest room. There is a box on the bed – Mrs. Strange giggles as she hands it off to Alanna. "Here, my dear. I know how much you love the fairy cartoons Adam has been sharing with you, so I got you a fairy costume to wear while you're out with him. It should meet to your liking." Mrs. Strange winks to acknowledge that their private conversations have not gone forgotten between them.

Alanna is excited as Mrs. Strange helps her get into the costume. Alanna looks at herself in the mirror once the outfit is on. Silhouetted by candlelight, she sees a new person in front of her. She is dressed as Tinkerbell from Peter Pan, complete with gossamer wings, high heel shoes, and dyed blond hair tied up in a bun. And her favorite part: bare open shoulders – scandalous and lewd where she lives on Rann, but trendy and flirtatious where she is now. She is excited to have the rare opportunity to reinvent herself for a night – she is not the Alanna of Rann she grew up as, but the Alanna of Earth. Sweet, strong, a tad sexy, and totally in control of her destiny. She sighs as she raises her sight to her face. Humans have always seen slitted pupils as evil – and seeing her eyes staring back at her with the costume on, for the first time, made her flinch at her own appearance.

Mrs. Strange seems to read the expression on her face, and offers her a pair of sunglasses. "Put these on, dear – I think it completes the look."

Alanna complies, and finds it relieving. Her image is not quite to the shows she watched, but the glasses adds something she can work into her new image. Plus, it helps relax her eyes a bit from the bright candle flames around her. Alanna grew up on Rann, where it was commonly taught never to look directly at fire. It was a common belief that looking directly at an open flame could blind you, but that was because their eyes were very sensitive to light, and the rich oxygen atmosphere made even small flames burn very bright.

Within the hour, Adam is finished dressing up as Peter Pan, and the two of them are picked up by a friend to go to a Halloween party in the neighborhood. They arrive and are invited back behind the house where a campfire is roaring and five other teenagers about their age are standing about in various costumes. They cheer and greet the last of their band, plus one.

Adam introduces Alanna, who is clinging onto Adam's arm to keep from falling over. He tells his friends that she is his pen-pal girlfriend visiting from France. Everyone greets her, and she quietly struggles for breath as she tries to look natural. Adam quickly escorts Alanna to find a seat, and she betrays a few pants for air, claiming that she is so excited to meet Adam's friends.

Adam goes around the campfire and formally introduces his friends. Most are schoolmates, with one an older sister and another a girlfriend to his friend. There is laughter as each tries to explain their choice of costume. Alanna struggles to understand the references each of them talk about – popular movies, books, or horror themes that are all new to her.

The crowd then goes around and starts to tell stories about Adam – embarrassing ones, like how he learned the hard way what *not* to do while wearing a hula costume. Alanna admits she doesn't understand what the hula costume or hula dance are all about.

Adam explains. "Out here in Hawai'i, we have what we call the 'Aloha Spirit.' People from all over the world come to visit to experience the unique culture that developed on these islands. My mom is Filipino, so I'm technically Polynesian enough that I can wear the hula costume and look somewhat authentic."

Freddie, the big sister of Nathan, and dressed as a vampire, pipes in. "You should see him in it, Alanna. We call him the 'Pocket Hercules', because he's short but really buff when he's dancing. In fact, we should get him to dance for you. Would you like to see that?"

Alanna covers her mouth and eyes, an instinctive gesture of embarrassment on Rann, and nods. "That would be nice." After a moment of silence, Chan's girlfriend Maki calls out in agreement "Yea, let's see some hula dancin', Adam!"

Some chants come forth, and Adam caves in. He gets up from beside Alanna and walks towards the campfire. A practice baton is tossed to him, and he starts his twirling routine. There are boos from his friends, so Adam caves in again and takes off his shirt and lights the ends of the baton. The boos turn into cheers, and Adam begins his routine of fire dancing he has been practicing. Alanna is bashful as she sees a totally different side of Adam – buff, tan, and fearlessly handling flames so bright she has to look to the ground throughout most of the dance.

As his friends are distracted and making drum noises to simulate a performance, Freddie comes over to the bench where Alanna is sitting, and sits on the bench itself with her feet where Adam was sitting a few minutes ago. She leans in and asks "Comment allez-vous?"

Alanna gazes into her general direction, still squinting from the bright flames and trying to shake off the afterimage left in her eyes from the bright lights of the nearby campfire. "Excuse me?"

Freddie smiles and sighs. "Oh, girl – I can see right through you. You're not French, are you?"

Alanna freezes and gets a cold chill up her spine. She has always wanted to see Adam's world. She silently envied his experiences of freedom and friendship, and now she may have ruined them all in just one evening of pretending to be just another Earthling. She has to relent to the truth, so she admits it. "No, I'm not. Please, don't say anything. It was Adam's idea. I just didn't want him to have to explain everything – it's just so complicated, and I don't think anyone here would accept a girl who had eyes like mine."

Freddie laughed. "Well, then you need to learn something about the real 'Aloha Spirit'. We're all friends here because we accept each other for who we really are. It's OK if you can't see, and it's OK if you have a speech impediment. Hell, it's OK if you aren't even human."

Freddie takes a long look at Adam, who's now swallowing one of the flaming ends of the baton for a second. "You know, I had a crush on your boyfriend once. He's a really nice guy – and really good looking for a Freshman. But I could see it in his eyes that he only saw me as Nathan's big sister. He didn't have that look at you, though. I'm kinda jealous, but I'm also happy that Adam finally found someone he liked. Yea, I can see him trying to protect you, but just remember that you're among friends here. Friends forever – Aloha."

Alanna can see Freddie still staring at Adam as he finishes with a flourish and extinguishes his baton to applause. He goes back to put his shirt on he left beside Alanna, and Freddie finally breaks her gaze and goes back to her old seat by the campfire. Alanna is speechless, not sure how far to take her words, but chooses to save her real secret for another day. Alanna smiles to herself, knowing that those feelings Freddie was hinting at, she had too.

After some more merriment, Adam asks to borrow Chan's scooter so he can show Alanna the sky around the nearby smaller peak to Mount Mauna Kea. Freddie smiles, suspecting something different is planned, but says nothing. They get the keys, and drive up to a parking site where they can see the ocean and the stars. Alanna is panting a little harder, so Adam chooses to make this stop the highest they go. Finally all alone, Adam takes a step towards the railing to gaze at the familiar scenic view.

"Alanna," Adam begins, his voice sounding foreign. "Thanks for coming out here with me. I've always wanted to bring someone – special – to one of these little get-togethers with my friends."

Adam, still watching over the cliff, continues. "You know, I owe you an apology. I was not honest with my intentions tonight. I didn't introduce you as a friend or acquaintance. I introduced you to my friends as my g-girlfriend." Adam takes a deep breath, and finally turns to look at Alanna's face.

Alanna, shocked, realizes that Adam is confessing to her. Silent, she simply takes off her sunglasses and stares intently at him with her large, feline eyes. Adam, embarrassed, turns away again to look out at the scene again.

"I know that we are different – from different worlds. I know that I know so little of you, or of your world, your life, or even if you already have a fiancee or something. I was selfish, and I wanted to gloat that I had a pretty girl I could call my own." Adam sighs, resolved. "I'll take you home if that is what you wish, and I'll never do this again."

Alanna is still quiet, trying to take in the whirling words while trying to gasp for air as best she can. She looks down and smiles, and the words simply come out.

"It's OK, Adam. I feel the same. I like you – like a girlfriend likes her boyfriend."

Adam, now staring at her in disbelief, laughs and goes to sit on the moped where he left Alanna. "Whew! That's a relief. You know, you really don't express yourself on your face very much. It can really make a guy nervous." Then, without a word, he leans down and gives Alanna a peck on her cheek.

"That's all I think I can handle for now," Adam admits. "Anything else will either make you slap me or else I'll faint from the excitement." He smiles. "I certainly hope we'll have plenty of opportunities to let our interplanetary relationship grow, right?" Adam leans down, his face close to hers, and stares into her large rounded eyes.

With Alanna quiet and bashful at her first romantic moment in her life, Adam continues. "You know, I never realized that your eyes are lavender. No one on Earth has lavender eyes – it's quite incredible."

Alanna responds. "No one has eyes like a cobra around here, either, except for cobras."

They smile at each other, and Adam starts to take Alanna back home as promised. As they start down the hill to the main road, Alanna listens to Adam's smartphone play a happy-sounding song about being wide awake. It seems to fit her feelings.

Adam takes a look at her song selection while at a stop sign. "That song?" Adam looks hard at Alanna. "You know, the lyrics are all about how a girl finally breaks free of a bad relationship. Don't you think it's kinda jinxing things?"

Alanna smiles. "Well, I hear a different meaning in the words. And besides, it's what I *want* to listen to right now." Alanna hugs Adam a little tighter to hold on as he starts the moped back up.

Adam chuckles and smiles. "As you wish, Tinkerbell."


	7. Chapter 7 - Adam Strange on Rann

_I must have been staring at Aaron for the last half hour as he described what must have been a very personal moment between his son and his_ _son's_ _new girlfriend. "_ _Did your son actually tell you all of this?"_

" _Eventually, yes." Aaron looked up from several plates of desserts and another empty glass of soda, ice cubes still cubic in shape. "And I am presuming he only kissed her on the cheek like a gentleman, too – just like he told me."_

" _How did the families respond when they found out your son and Alanna were getting romantically involved? You seem to have been OK with it, but what about your wife and Alanna's parents?"_

 _Aaron scratches his forehead with a bit of an embarrassed look, and admitted "Well, you see – his mother really liked Alanna, and Dr. Sargath and I were OK with the situation overall. But Mrs. Sargath was concerned that Alanna was quite young to be getting involved with boys. To be honest, we all had our concerns. It was a secret, forbidden relationship – no one, not on Earth nor on Rann, could accept their relationship fully knowing who and what they were. We were also concerned about the idea of them getting married and having kids – there was no way to predict how the kids would turn out, or even if the kids would be... erm... fully viable beings. It was all unknown and dangerous territory, and as their parents we were right to be concerned for their choices._

" _What was our only solace was that both Adam and Alanna were smart, reasonable, and thoughtful kids. We had confidence in their ability to find a way to make it work. That was, I think, the deciding point that allowed each of us, in time, to come to accept their relationship. Perhaps, in some of us, we believed it may have just been a phase for them, or a fancy for the exotic that drew them to each other. I, for one, was OK with the relationship simply because I had confidence that Adam would do right by Alanna. I raised him to be a gentleman, and I swear would have beat his ass 'till it hung crooked if he ever harmed her – and I believe Adam knew it. That's why he kept his hormones in check – right up to the end."_

 _I was a bit surprised to see Aaron get so explicit with his language, but I guess he really felt strongly that Adam take good care of Alanna. I couldn't help but be touched – chivalry is not dead after all, it seems._

" _You said 'right up to the end.' What does that mean?" I could sense our story was winding up, so I waved off the waiter for another refill of coffee. Aaron was not so restraining – another glass of soda and yet another slice of lime cheese cake was instantly in front of him before he could address my question._

" _Yes," he finally replied. "The end. That gets complicated."_

 _Aaron takes some bites of his cheesecake, and a long drag on his soda. He takes a moment to pause, and then looks right at me. "There is a custom in Alanna's school that the girls get to invite a boy to a school dance, right before their Winter Break."_

" _Kind of like a Sadie Hawkins Dance," I interjected._

 _Aaron pauses for a second. "Yes, I believe so. Well, Alanna decided to invite Adam to this event, and that was the last time I ever saw him."_

 _We both get quiet. Aaron continues to eat his cheesecake and take a few more long draws on his soda, finishing it off right away. He shakes his glass, peering in as if trying to find any soda still hiding from him under the ice cubes, and then quietly finishes his cheesecake. I wait for him to continue, and after a minute I start to press him._

" _Well? What do you remember of that event?"_

 _Aaron stares at the empty plate, then once again raises his gaze to meet mine._

" _It was just a simple date. He was exited to go and see Rann for the first time, and we were all rooting for them to have a good time. He dressed up in his best outfit, and was quick to get going. I'm not sure why, but I felt I had to give him something to protect him. Do you remember how I was into knife throwing back in college?"_

" _Yea, sure." I could tell Aaron really didn't want to get to the end of his story. "Go on."_

" _Well, I still had my knife collection. I gave Adam my balisong – a butterfly knife – in case he met with trouble. I taught him how to use it when he was younger. I knew Alanna's school may frown upon people carrying weapons, but if they got one look at Adam's eyes, that knife would have been the least of his worries. You understand?"_

 _I nodded, not trying to seem judgmental. "Yes. And then?"_

" _He just walked though the Gateway, and that was the last time he ever set foot on Earth..."_

The taxi carrying Adam and Alanna stopped in front of Alanna's school just as the sun went down over the hills of Rann. Adam was like a kid staring out of an airplane window at all of the wonders around him – or at least what he could make of them.

Rann's sun was a dull red color, and all of the vegetation was pitch black. Alanna lived in a major urban area at a high altitude, like Denver CO back on Earth. The air was thin, but felt crisp and invigorating. Photosynthesis was very efficient on Rann, and there was little Nitrogen in the air, making Oxygen plentiful and easy to breathe.

Adam was also surprised to see how dark it was everywhere. Daytime never got any brighter than a dark, stormy day on Earth, and nighttime was almost pitch black – even with street lamps on. He constantly struggled to see, made worse with the fact that Alanna's family had to dress him with a kind of bandana-sunglasses – basically like a bandana, but with a dark visor to cover his eyes as well. It was the current fashion, but Adam felt almost blind once they arrived at the school.

He had to change his clothes, and they didn't fit well. His chest was caved inward (as best he could!) since he was broader and taller than the kids around him. Alanna kept complimenting him on how he looked like a video star, but Adam had no concept of what passed as pop culture on Rann.

They entered the school, together, and soon found themselves in somewhat familiar territory. It was like any school social function on Earth: there were crowds of people, each dressed similarly to the others within their same crowd, and there was merriment everywhere that was plainly visible. Teachers were doubling as chaperones, and you didn't have to go far before you could find some of the students pushing school boundaries in quiet, hidden places.

Adam was familiar with school dances, but was never interested in them. He had his friends, his hobbies, and never felt the need to be popular. It made him a geek back on Earth, but ironically that attitude of indifference quickly caught the attention of several other females. Alanna seemed to flinch and get tense as they approached Alanna and Adam.

"Um, Adam? There is something I need to tell you really quick." Alanna turns her back to the three female students as they started to approach faster.

"Don't worry," Adam assured her. "I'll do my best not to embarrass you."

The three female students were upon them just as Adam finished, and they started to strike up a conversation. Their tone was anything but genuine. "Alanna! You actually came! And you brought someone! Who is he?"

Adam could see right away what was going on, even through the foggy and dark visor he was forced to wear. Alanna was not popular, and these three girls were the type to reinforce the divide between who's popular and who isn't. Adam was surprised – he heard stories from Freddie and Maki about these "mean girls" but he thought it was all hype brought on by female psychology. He gives a quick apology to the sky for his friends, both for not taking their stories seriously and for discounting it on a sexist pretense.

Alanna tried to put her best face forward, and answered with confidence. "This is Adam – he's from out of town. He and I, well, know each other well so he accepted my invitation." Alanna looks around. "I thought you had to have a date to come here tonight."

The closest one, who seems to be the bossy one of the three girls, answers. "Our boys are hanging out outside on the field, practicing. You know how those boys are, right? Sports are all they care about." She in particular seems to be eying Adam like a cat staring at an unbeknownst mouse chewing on cheese. Adam couldn't help but feel the creeps as each of the three girls started to trace his outlines with their widening pupils.

Adam was suddenly struck by an odd observation: Alanna was a head taller than almost everyone around, and Adam was about a half-head taller than Alanna. He could get a good view of the whole crowd, and he could see more and more reptilian eyes focusing in on him. He started to regret coming, but he had to make a good show of things for Alanna's sake – she has to deal with these people every day. Adam has only one night to make an impression, and be done with them.

Adam tried to diffuse the situation. "What are they playing? Can I join?"

The other girls look astonished at Adam. His voice, although a tad lilting in the thin atmosphere, still has a resonance that one rarely finds amongst the people of Rann. He also has an accent that none of the girls could place, only adding to their deepening curiosity. The girls back up a bit and point to the back of the dance hall.

Adam grabs Alanna by the hand to move away from the three girls towards the back of the dance hall. Each of the three girls seems to betray a slight gasp as Adam and Alanna go, hand-in-hand. Adam is aware that there is a sensitivity on Rann to holding hands with the opposite gender, but he is more interested in getting out of the sight of the growing crowd he's creating. Alanna puts her free hand to her face again, but he can see she's also smirking as she steals one last glance at the three students she was just talking to.

They soon find themselves behind the school gym, and onto an open field. Adam has to struggle to adjust to the darkness, and he finds a group of about a dozen male students chatting and walking around what looks like a balancing beam suspended about half meter off the ground by metal supports. Are they gymnasts, Adam thinks?

After some greetings, Adam learns the rules of the game. Two students get on the balancing beam, and basically try to knock each other off with a long stick. Adam thinks it sounds way too familiar to be a sport on Rann, but at least the rules are simple. One of the athletes, whom Adam figures out is the date of the bossy girl Alanna was just speaking to, invites him to try it out. Adam happily agrees, if for no other reason than to do something more interesting than to play "drama queens" back in the school building. The athlete tosses a stick to Adam, and he catches it. It feels heavy in his hands, and it is slow to maneuver – like it was made of lead. Adam could sense that he could never get the staff to move fast enough to knock over an opponent, but he was bound by his honor to try. Adam climbs onto the balancing beam and signals he is ready to play.

It is a quick match. Adam has his balance knocked out from under him by a fast and slick move by the athlete. He congratulates him, and the athlete offers to help him up. Adam takes it, and they begin again. A second time, Adam loses his footing and finds himself settling on the dirt. He chuckles to himself, knowing that if they were back on Earth he'd probably feel hurt from the fall.

The athlete gives him some pointers – you have to balance with the stick and the body, and strike where the opponent is weakest. Adam tries, and actually lasts a few seconds before being knocked over. They both laugh, and Adam concedes and compliments his opponent in good sportsmanship.

Adam could see Alanna and the bossy girl talking, and neither are smiling. He shakes his head and hands over the staff. One of the other athletes asks what sport he plays, and Adam tells them that he is a dancer. They all laugh, unable to fathom the idea that a guy can dance. Bristling with some ego bruising, Adam also tells them that he knows how to fight, too.

All of the laughter stops. Everyone is dead quiet – Adam starts to worry he might be blowing his cover. Fighting is a serious offense among civilians on Rann, and is only taught to trained warriors. In fact, there is an entire caste of Rannians who carry the fighting traditions from ancient times, from the Rann-Thanagar War, and they are considered a fierce people to be respected and avoided.

Adam wasn't lying, but he was exaggerating. He got a few lessons from friends at hula practice. Mainly a few Kung Fu and Muay Thai moves, but he wouldn't be considered a threat by any standard.

The bossy girl calls out to her date to teach Adam a lesson for blasphemy. He is reluctant, but a fellow athlete takes up the challenge. Adam was genuinely curious how they would teach him a lesson if they couldn't fight – would they yell at him, or wag a finger and say mean things? His lack of fear only incensed the crowd of athletes to take a stronger stance against him.

Then, they all started to push him. One by one, they tried to shove him and push him down. They felt light as their open palms connected with him, but he had no choice but to accept the "violence" against him. He held up his hands to apologize – he just wanted to be one of the crowd again and yawn at the silly school-condoned games he'd have to play with Alanna.

But Alanna was on the ground. The three girls from before had pushed her down, and the bossy one winds up and gives her a kick in the shin. It wasn't enough to break skin, but Alanna is Rannian, so it must be painful for her. She cries out and curls up into a ball.

A hundred thoughts and memories flooded Adam and Alanna alike. Alanna has always been the butt of jokes for being tall and socially awkward. She was always shunned for being different, thinking different, and believing different. To Adam, she was almost indistinguishable amongst the vast sea of large slitted eyes on Rann, but to her fellow Rannians, she was unwelcome. Adam was enraged, thinking of the countless times he was picked on as well – that was why he dedicated his life to becoming strong and agile, so no one would ever pick on him or his friends again. He was too old and schoolmates too mature to ever put that dedication to use back on Earth once he learned enough to defend himself, but here on Rann... he'd show them what the punishment is for bullying.

Adam bulldozes past the athletes, knocking them off-balance and practically leaps to Alanna's side. He grabs the bossy girl and lifts her off the ground and throws her to the side. She lands about three meters away – not a bad toss given the gravity, but enough that she howls in pain and agony as she cradles a plant-stained glowing spot on her elbow.

Adam takes another look. What's glowing on her elbow?

"Oh God – she's bleeding!" There are screams all around Adam and suddenly the crowd begins to grow exponentially. Two athletes take this as a sign to go all out and pick up the balancing sticks to hit Adam. Adam braces, and they thud against his forearm. It stings enough that the blows will leave bruises and welt marks, but Adam has felt worse from friendly sparring back on Earth.

One of the athletes spits on Adam, and starts to use some foul language. Adam was never taught the "dirty words" but he definitely can tell some had references to the female gender. Not sure whether it was to mock him as being unmanly or to denigrate Alanna as a bad girl, Adam decides to shut his foul mouth. He snatches a stick from the athlete's grip and swipes it across the athlete's mouth, unleashing enough force to tear his clothes at the shoulders as he swung.

Suddenly, there is an explosion of light. It looks like a flashlight got turned on into his face, and he squints for the first time. In a moment, the whole crowd goes quiet. Before Adam lies the athlete, his face a pulp as his blood radiates the whole grounds like a light bulb. Everyone's irises are huge as they zoom in on Adam, reflecting an iridescent blue light shining from the bloodied stick in his hand. Adam suddenly realizes why everything is so much brighter than before – his bandana-sunglasses are in the death grip of the dead athlete at his feet, and he is staring back at the crowd with small, beady brown eyes with round pupils.

Round pupils – according to the Good Book, the Thanagarians were known to have round pupils.

The crowd suddenly erupts into a din of screams and panic. Rannians are running in random directions, frightened to madness as they trip all over each other. Adam drops the blood-soaked glowing stick, the horror of the scene bringing tears to his eyes. He has failed his family, his race, and his girlfriend – all over a stupid comment.


	8. Chapter 8 - Demon Seed

_I was silent as Aaron described the scene. It was like something out of a horror movie. But something seemed out of place, and suddenly I realized what was bothering me._

" _Wait a sec. If Adam never returned home to Earth, how did you ever learn about these events?"_

 _Aaron, without reacting, replied. "Remember how I said my Gateway could sense the feedback of the Gateway on Rann? Well, we used that as a means of communication. Later on, he was able to relay what had happened in Morse code."_

 _I pondered the story some more. "How could Rannian blood glow? And, why was it so easy to hurt the Rannians?"_

 _Again, Aaron responded right away. "The simple answer: I don't know. I can only imagine that Rannian blood carries proteins that glow in the presence of Oxygen, or perhaps they carry something like a phosphor in their system – it was present in a lot of their food staples. All I have is my son's testimony in this situation, so I can only speculate on the reasons. Sorry I can't give you a better answer."_

 _Aaron plays with the paper wrapper his straw came in, folding and refolding like a little accordion. "The issue of strength I can only presume is because of Rann's lower gravity and Oxygen-rich air. On Rann, each of us would seem stronger – we can lift heavier loads, jump higher and farther, and can throw farther with the same degree of effort. The Rannians are also smaller, and I suspect their connective tissues and bones are more more fragile in response to that lower gravity. Adam must have seemed like a monster to them."_

" _But it was so dark on Rann – I thought they would have the same sun as ours."_

" _There's no guarantee that they must have the same kind of sun as us. It seems they have a less massive, cooler star than us that gives everything a dull red glow during the daytime. I'd also suspect that they may not even be able to see the glow of their blood because their eyes may not be sensitive to blue or violet. It would explain the cat-like eyes – they have evolved to see in otherwise very dim reddish light."_

" _But I thought they were the same species as us. How can that be?"_

" _Once again, the short answer is that I don't know. Dr. Sargath's friend was the one who identified the Earthling blood as Rannian. Either a mistake was made, or perhaps our DNA is capable of far greater variation than previously believed. Sometimes, truth can be stranger than fiction – Science has seen this before with things like the discovery of the lyre sponge a few years ago."_

 _I was still wrapped up in Aaron's story, so I beckoned him to continue. "What happened to Adam? Did he... did they... stop him?"_

 _Aaron finished folding up his paper straw cover and dropped it into his empty glass, wetted from the melting ice cubes. He sighed, smiled, and then met my gaze again. "To my knowledge, no – Adam may still be alive. But they did capture him after that incident at the school. He made one hell of an impression at the police station that night..."_

Adam Strange, after only three hours of exploring beyond the safe confines of Dr. Sargath's lab, has been charged with disturbing the peace, disrupting a school function, two counts of assault and battery, and one count of murder. Within the next thirty minutes, he'll also be charged with resisting arrest, but at the moment he is sitting in a jail cell, cuffed in linked metal gauntlets, and being interrogated by a police officer as everyone waits for other authorities to arrive. Alanna is being held elsewhere in the station.

"Where did you come from?" The officer asks again, losing patience with each time he asks.

"Earth." Adam's reply is smug, knowing that the officer has no clue what or where Earth is.

The officer sighs, the repeats a different question: "How did you get here?"

"I walked." Adam smiles, seeing how the question is true, yet doesn't answer the question at all.

The officer leans in, trying to intimidate Adam. The officer, again, fails. "How do you know Alanna? What is your connection to her?"

Adam leans back and stares into nervous eyes of the police officer. "We met."

The officer waves a stun baton in front of Adam's face. "You give me another dumb answer like that and I'll zap you!"

Adam looks at the stun baton, figuring it to be like a cattle prod. He figures he can handle the shocks, so he stays his ground. "Stop giving me dumb questions and let me go, and I'll promise not to give you any more dumb answers."

The officer leans in and tries once more to get a rise out of Adam. "Or, maybe I should give Alanna a taste of my stun baton!"

Adam stops smiling and leans forward into the officer's face. The officer's irises go almost round with adrenaline as Adam speaks. "If you touch her with that, I will make sure you regret it."

Their standoff is interrupted by two red-robed individuals entering the cell. They seem to be wearing metal packs and carrying rifles slung over their shoulders. Adam's attention is captured by their strange demeanor. They walk with an odd confidence and authority, and have bright symbols sewn onto their fabric. They give him the appearance of priests of some kind – he later finds out they are Brothers of the Good Book. These two in particular are inquisitors, sent to respond to the disturbance at the school a few hours ago.

The police officer stands up to attention right away and backs off, still nervous. He suddenly cups his hands to his chest and swings his arms open in the formal greeting of Rann. He calls out: "Faith Endures!"

The two robed figures each raise a gloved hand and respond: "Faith Endures." One of them continues. "Is this the suspect with the strange eyes?"

"Yes, Brother," the guard answers. "We found some items on him – they are on the table over there." The guard points to a nearby table with Adam's wallet, balisong, bandana-sunglasses and a half-used can of cinnamon breath mints.

"That will be all. Leave us," the first robed individual commands the guard. Without a word, the guard quickly exits the cell room and closes the door.

"You," the first robed individual calls out to Adam. "Do you understand our speech? What do others call you?" They both start to approach, slowly, sizing up Adam with their large probing eyes.

"My name is Adam. Adam Strange. And yes, I can understand you."

The two inquisitors nod as they stop by the table with Adam's possessions laid out like in a crime scene investigation. The second one, who has yet to speak, opens the little metal tin of breath mints and tries to sniff the contents. He flinches, whispering "Poisonous..." to his colleague. Adam starts to chuckle as he overheard their comments – they don't seem to like the smell of cinnamon, Adam figures.

The first one turns to Adam and starts to approach, bringing his face mere centimeters from Adam's. He stares into Adam's eyes, his irises adjusting to better capture the light like a dragon eying a potential meal. He smiles, finally uttering "By the Good Book – your eyes... you are from Thanagar, aren't you?"

Adam shakes his head. "Nope. I call it Earth."

The second inquisitor is touching Adam's wallet and starting to rifle through its contents while the first one still stares into Adam's face. Adam can sense that people don't use breath mints much on Rann. "You *are* from Thanagar," the first one claims. "Your eyes betray you. You're here to scout out our defenses... to restart the ancient war against our world. Aren't you?" The first inquisitor tilts his head, as if to will the truth out of Adam. Adam keeps his cool and doesn't take the bait.

"Nope. I was just here to go on a date." Adam meets his gaze, as if to challenge the inquisitor's efforts to interrogate him. Adam isn't worried – he's already twisted his restraints until the soft metal has fatigued and holding together by mere threads. He's just waiting for an opportunity to break free, should he need to.

The second inquisitor is examining the balisong, carefully turning it over and over in his hands. He is captivated by the fine wood handle, but unsure how to open it. He finally speaks up to Adam. "Why do you carry this small wooden box?"

Adam smiles. "It's for Good Luck. My dad gave it to me."

The first inquisitor stares hard into Adam's face, certain that Adam's telling the truth but lost on understanding what he's hiding and why. His patience starts to get noticeably thin. "You arrived to the school with a girl – Alanna. She is the daughter of Dr. Sargath, one of our greatest minds in Science. Tell me – did Dr. Sargath bring you here? How did he do it?"

Adam starts to lose his patience as well. "Maybe you should ask him."

The first inquisitor replies. "I'm asking you. Tell me."

"I don't know – magic, maybe. Or perhaps your Good Book can–"

Adam's face is slapped by the first inquisitor. He's clearly getting angry. "How *dare* you let such holy words escape that devil's mouth of yours! Your profane Science has opened a portal to Thanagar, and you are their spy!"

Adam tries to sooth his aching cheek with his tongue. "What are you, some kind of cultist?"

In the Rann language, the word "cultist" has a very negative connotation. Adam's face is met with another slap. Then his hair is grabbed and his head pulled back. It's not enough to hurt, but Adam can feel the sting of his hair pulling on his scalp. Adam's eyes lock with the first inquisitor.

"I am a divine protector of Rann! I am a trained warrior to guard the world from the denizens of Thanagar and their dark influences. Debauchery, iconoclasm and heresy – these are the dark forces that subvert our world every day. Ever since we purged the world of the Thanagarians, we have ruled the world and have kept the peace. For centuries, your kind have tried to sway the weakest of us with Science and liberal ideas. And now, you dare to show your wicked dull eyes on our world!"

Adam braces for another hit, but none comes. He opens his eyes to see the first inquisitor is walking away from him, then turns to address him again. "You will be put on trial, and everyone will know of Dr. Sargath's treachery against his kind. I will see you both executed; but poor Alanna – I will have to *personally* cleanse her womb of your demon seed!"

The first inquisitor turns to leave, adjusting the rifle on his shoulder and eager to carry out his plans. Adam grows furious as he sees the wicked smirk on the first inquisitor's face.


	9. Chapter 9 - Contingency Plans

" _My goodness! Is this for real?" I had caught myself leaning on the edge of my seat. "Please tell that the inquisitor didn't carry out his plans – that's horrible!"_

 _Aaron didn't seem to be enjoying his storytelling. He nods his head to reassure me. "Thankfully, no."_

 _I asked this question before, but it was never answered. "Who are the Brotherhood of the Good Book? They remind me of agents of the Spanish Inquisition."_

 _Aaron nods. "They were of a sort, I guess. They were the only ones taught to fight and to use jet-packs. Oh yes," Aaron responds to my eyebrows rising at that last statement. "Since their air is Oxygen-rich but very thin, it must not have been easy to develop winged flight or gunpowder weapons. I guess their technology grew to use personal flight and energy-based weapons the way we on Earth took advantage of our thicker atmosphere to learn hang gliding and slug-throwing guns."_

 _Aaron cut short his tangent and got back to his story. "In the end, I'm glad I gave Adam that knife – that turned out to be a life saver..."_

The second inquisitor is still inspecting the balisong as the first inquisitor reaches the door of the cell. The cell door opens.

"One last question," the second inquisitor asks of Adam. "What is this little box, really?"

Adam tries to regain his focus after fuming over the first inquisitor's threats. Adam tries to be a good guy, but he has never taken well to insults or threats against people he cares about. He take a moment to plan a strategy and responds. "Flip that little pin and the box will swing open."

The second inquisitor follows Adam's instructions, and the handles of the balisong swing open to reveal a blade. The second inquisitor cuts his finger on the blade and howls out as glowing blood seaps from the wound. Adam lunges for the blade as it falls from the inquisitor's grip and catches it, then brings the blade to the first inquisitor's throat. The second inquisitor simply holds out his hands in a gesture of mercy for the first inquisitor.

"You fool!" The first inquisitor chides his associate. "You are letting him escape!"

Adam takes the rifle from the first inquisitor and motions the two inquisitors farther into the cell as Adam backs up towards the door. He collects his wallet, bandanna-sunglasses and a handful of breath mints, and slyly eats them in front of a surprised second inquisitor. "You two can keep the rest – you may need them."

With a flourish, Adam salutes a farewell (a gesture not found on Rann) and closes the cell door on the two inquisitors. He then calmly starts to walk down the hallway, the muffled cries of the two inquisitors quickly disappearing behind him as he slips on his bandanna-sunglasses.

He doesn't travel far before he walks past some police officers at a break station getting snacks and drinks. They look at him oddly, and he turns to them and tries to come up with the best bluff he can think of. "The two 'Brothers' who came to see me told me I can go home. Which way is the exit?"

They stare at Adam, trying to figure out if his story checks out. Adam turns his head to see an interviewing room with Alanna and two other police officers. Without waiting for a reply, Adam strolls into the room and brandishes the rifle from his shoulder.

"I believe we are free to go," Adam interrupts their interrogation.

The police officers back off, and Alanna hops up from her chair, nervous and excited to be released by Adam. She rushes to his side and takes the rifle from him. "I'll handle this for you," she muses, knowing that Adam may not know anything about the kind of weapon he's carrying.

The two of them slowly egress from the room and are back in the hallway, but soon find themselves in a windowed lobby without exits. Ten police officers with stun batons quickly arrive and corner the two of them. Alanna yells out "Back off, or I *will* shoot!"

The two inquisitors soon join the police officers, angered and armed with the other rifle. "Your reign of terror is over, Thanagarian!" The first inquisitor shouts as he takes the second inquisitor's rifle. He wastes no time in bringing the gun to bear against Alanna.

There is a sudden, sharp crack & a buzz that fills the air with the smell of ozone. Adam sees the first inquisitor explode with a bright red and blue glow, then drops down lifeless on the floor. Adam turns to face Alanna, who's rifle is still smoking from the discharge of some kind of energy.

"What kind of weapon is that!?" Adam gasps.

"A rifle," Alanna returns, as she trains her weapon on the others. "They are illegal to possess unless you are a Brother of the Good Book. Only they are authorized by law to discharge a rifle. But it doesn't mean others can't learn how they work."

Alanna surveys the situation. "This is turning out badly, Adam. I am sorry you had to see this. This is a beautiful and peaceful world – I wish you could have seen it with me."

Adam turns to look out of the pitch black windows around them. "Maybe we still can. Ready?"

Alanna turns to face Adam, unsure of what he meant. The second inquisitor take the chance distraction to grab the rifle and motions the police officers to rush her. Adam swoops up Alanna and jumps into the windows, shattering them.

They freefall from the third story window and hit the soft ground. Adam breaks the fall by tucking Alanna tight to him and rolling forward onto his back. He feels pain shoot up his legs, back and head, but unfurls Alanna from his grip safe and sound. He removes his bandanna-sunglasses and checks the sore spot on his head, and finds it feels wet.

Adam gets up, sore but alive. "Adam!" Alanna cries. "You're bleeding!" She points to the gash on his head. Although Rann has a good selection of medical treatments, bleeding is considered a very desperate situation for one's health. Hemophilia is a common problem, so seeing blood is often seen as a harbinger of death. Alanna can't help but be moved by seeing Adam's bright red blood with her red-sensitive eyesight.

Adam surveys the landing site, and the dark blood on the palm of his hand. "Really?" Adam smiles. "If we were on Earth, I'd be dead right now. I think I'll accept some bleeding and call it even." Adam puts on a tough demeanor and tries to apply pressure to the crack in his scalp. He aches, but doesn't feel like anything is broken – he was lucky.

Alanna starts to see movement back at the window of the police station. She fires a wild shot at the windows and the police scatter for cover. She beckons Adam to move, and they soon find themselves a taxi to take them home.

Within the hour, Adam and Alanna return home with a desperate story. The authorities know about Adam, and know that Dr. Sargath had something to do with his presence on Rann. Dr. Sargath has prepared for such a contingency, and makes a quick call to a friend who will offer some asylum to the family if they leave quickly.

Dr. Sargath, his wife, Alanna and Adam go back to Dr. Sargath's lab. As part of the contingency plan, they have to shut down and disable the Gateway – permanently. Dr. Strange and his wife are at the other end, getting in their last chance to say goodbye to the wonderful family they have come to know on Rann.

As everyone is in tears, knowing that they have only minutes before the police arrive, hugs and handshakes are exchanged. Mrs. Strange calls for her son to come over as Dr. Sargath starts the shutdown process. Adam turns to face Alanna, who's face is moist from crying. He holds her hand, and doesn't move from his place as he gives a sad look to his parents. It is evident that Adam is choosing to stay on Rann.

Dr. Strange nods. "I love you, Adam. And – I'll always be here. When you are ready to return, we will open our side of the Gateway. I will be waiting for your signal. Take care, son."

Mrs. Strange screams and cries as Adam nods and speaks in English for the last time. "Mom, dad – thank you. I love you both. Farewell."

Alanna touches Adam's arm to comfort him as he sees his last images of his mother, crying, and then vanishes into nothing.


	10. Chapter 10 - To The End

_There_ _was_ _an odd silence after Aaron described his last moments with his son. He stare_ _d_ _out the window of the diner,_ _with_ _a dozen straws pulled from the dispenser on the table and twisted and mangled beyond use_ _in front of him_ _._ _He wiped his eyes, and then turned to face me._

" _The rest is history. We filed a Missing Person report to the police, knowing full well there was no way they could help us. Teachers and fellow students offered their condolences. My wife left and moved in with her mother and sister in Manila. And I, I still have the Gateway running. Listening."_

 _I composed myself, and pressed for a few last questions. "You did get some messages from your son – what is he doing now?"_

" _Now?" Aaron takes in a deep breath. "I don't know. Dr. Sargath had built a scaled-down version of the Gateway so he could communicate with me. They sent two Morse-code transmissions: the first was of the information I just told you. The second was that it may be some time before there is a third. He's decided to take on the Brotherhood of the Good Book, and has joined a resistance movement co-founded by Dr. Sargath. He's... he's trying to save Rann from tyranny, it seems."_

 _I take a moment to consider that, then decide I'll think more heavily on that later. "I'm sorry about your wife divorcing you over this. I don't believe it was your fault."_

 _Aaron reanimates a bit in his reply. "No, to the contrary – I encouraged her to go. This whole thing was just too much for her. She had no animosity to me, to Alanna or Dr. Sargath, or to Adam. She was very proud of Adam, in fact. But the trauma of dealing with his loss, and the uncertainty of his fate, took its toll on her heart. What she needs is some time away, and quite frankly so do I. Like with my son, I am... listening... and waiting... for a signal."_

 _It was past 2:00 PM, three hours since we first met, and the world seemed completely changed. The Gateway, Alanna & Dr. Sargath, Rann... it was a lot to swallow. As I was packing to go, I asked one last question – the question I really wanted to ask all this time: "Aaron, why did you want to tell *me* of all people this story?"_

 _Aaron smiled. "Two reasons: first, I needed the council of an old friend. Someone who knows me too well to write me off as a crackpot. And second, I don't want this story to die with me. Use it – write it – whatever you want to do with it. It's yours; you have the rights, the patents, or whatever you need to do anything you please with it. Just don't let it die... because if it does, then it is like my son died for nothing in this world. Earth. His... his home."_

 _I couldn't look at Aaron's face anymore. I hated to see him cry, and it looks like Aaron can't stop it from happening any longer. Telling that story must have been taxing, so I paid the bill and the tip, gave him my most sincerest goodbye, and rushed out to return my car rental and catch my flight home._

 _As I pulled out of the parking lot, I could still see Aaron staring out of the diner window. It was surreal to think that he could be staring at his son at this very moment – so close, yet so far apart. As I contemplated my options, my imagination began to wonder over that last image of Aaron and what might have been on his mind..._

Adam Strange, cloaked, was staring into an alleyway, wondering if his parents were walking down that very way back on Earth. So close, he wondered, yet so far.

Alanna, also cloaked, but carrying a rifle, puts a gentle hand on Adam's shoulder. She can see how much he misses them – how much his mind still lives on Earth with his friends and family. She still feels guilty that Adam chose to stay for her, but they both know that she could never survive on Earth as anything more than a freak and an invalid. Here, on Rann, Adam Strange is a superhero.

They are soon met by an elderly man carrying a large satchel. They exchange some greetings, and the elderly man introduces them to the contents of his container: an old book.

"This is it, my young ones," the old man says to Adam and Alanna. "The last copy outside of the sacred halls of the Brotherhood of the Good Book. This book contains a first-hand account of the Rann-Thanagar War by one of the great Disciples. Many consider it apocryphal, but it may hold some of the answers you are seeking: answers about who the Thanagarians were, and where you may find a way to get to Thanagar."

Alanna takes the hands of the old scholar into hers, and she smiles. "Thank you – you don't know how much this means to us."

The old scholar blushes at the boldness of modern youth, but smiles back. "Well, it's about time the truth be told about what happened back then. About how the Brotherhood came to power, and at what cost-"

The old scholar's words are quickly drowned out by the roar of jetpacks. Within moments, the three of them are surrounded by Brothers of the Good Book. As Alanna and Adam brace for an attack, the Brothers brandish their rifles, with one of them holding up his hand for a pause. It is the same Brother that Alanna and Adam met back in the police station the first night Adam was on Rann, but with a prosthesis for a left hand from his first encounter with them and Adam's amazing but dirty knife.

"It's been a long time, Adam Strange. I knew you were the one trying to find the Lost Book – once I learned of its whereabouts, it was just a matter of time before you'd let your guard down to get it." Gesturing with a fake hand, the inquisitor motions for his fellow Brothers to arrest all three of them. "Please, don't resist arrest again – I made sure to have backup with me this time. You are outnumbered two to one – not even the great Adam Strange could take on those odds. I assure you you'll be given a fair and public trial for your crimes."

Adam Strange removes his signature bandana-sunglasses, and shakes his head in disagreement – a gesture the people of Rann were unsure of. "You still underestimate me. Back on my homeworld, I had a nickname: Keahi – 'The Fire'." With a smooth and practiced move, Adam produced a staff with soft ends, and with a simple press of a button the ends burst into flame. The Brothers all backed up and shielded their eyes as Adam began to spin the staff and move towards them.

The old scholar moved behind Alanna, who brought her rifle to bear against the mob of Brothers around her. She could see this was going to be a desperate fight, and maybe their last. But, so long as Adam is by her side, she will do everything she can to help the people of Rann to finally be rid of the oppression of the Brotherhood of the Good Book.

Wherever their adventures take them, Alanna and Adam Strange will face them, together.

To the End.


End file.
